Director of UNAIDS Regional
Support Team for Asia-Pacific, Eamonn Murphy said, “The Philippines has a small
window of opportunity to act now and stop a major HIV epidemic from taking
hold.

“If HIV programming is re-directed
to focus on the people most at risk and where they are located, I’m sure the
country can not only return to a stable situation but even end the AIDS
epidemic as a public health threat by 2030,” he adds.

According to Murphy, HIV cases
among males who have sex with males (MSMs), and transgender women having sex
with males (TGWs) account for 83 percent of new HIV cases in the Philippines.

And while data showed there was
an increase in condom use (from 36 percent in 2011 to 50 percent in 2015), and
testing (5 percent in 2011 and 16 percent in 2015) among MSMs and TWGs, the
Health agency still considered these numbers quite low.

Preventing further growth of HIV
epidemic

Ubial said that they are
determined to halt the rapid rise of HIV infection in the country.

“We have significantly increased
the budget allocated to HIV in the past few years, and are now implementing
programs which we expect to have a positive impact,” she said.

“The Department of Health,
together with the Philippine National AIDS Council, other government agencies,
local government units, and partner civil society groups is determined and
committed to halt the increase in the number of cases and start reversing the
trend of the epidemic in five years,” she adds.

Ultimately, the DOH recognises the importance of
early diagnosis in these patients, and urged at-risk individuals to get tested.
MIMS

At the recent Malaysian Community Pharmacy Business Forum (MyCPBF), a discussion forum was held on the subject of “Transcending Primary Healthcare Services: The Future of Specialized Pharmacy Services and Pharmacy Specialization”.